


The Forgotten: Blood Moon Rising

by MissNMikaelson



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Blood moon, Kolena, Multi, Supernatural - Freeform, Supernatural war, the forgotten sequel, vengeance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:46:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissNMikaelson/pseuds/MissNMikaelson
Summary: Here we have it: the shortly awaited sequel to the Forgotten. Years have gone by. The Mikaelson family has grown and known something they known since they were human: peace.But peace makes for a boring story.So buckle up everyone because we are in for a ride.We're gonna have some laughs.We're gonna shed some tears.And if I do my job right we'll be on the edge of our seats more than once.The Blood Moon is Rising...
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Elena Gilbert/Kol Mikaelson, Finn Mikaelson/Sage (Vampire Diaries TV), Hayley Marshall/Elijah Mikaelson, Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little note for this chapter. There are typos towards the bottom, and each one is deliberate. Anything I missed at the top just slipped through the edits.
> 
> I do not own TVD or TO

Both girls were sprawled on their stomachs before the Christmas tree with their ankles crossed in the air, and per their tradition they wore matching onesie; this year the pattern was snowflakes on a classic plaid.

Kol watched from the sofa as his daughter and niece flipped through a glossy magazine. Neither girl truly cared for fashion, but with the school's New Year's Eve ball around the corner both had decided it was time to take an interest; if they left it to Rebekah, as they normally would, then floor length gowns and sleek up-do's would be involved, and it was quite simply not that kind of party.

It was a high school dance masquerading as a ball.

"You know if you two don't go to bed soon Santa won't come," he felt Elena shake with laughter at his side. He slipped his fingers through her hair.

"Dad," Eve rolled her eyes, "we've known the truth about Santa Clause for a while now."

"Who said anything about Santa Clause?" Elena cracked an eye open; her husband's heart beat under her ear. "Even if he did exist I'm certain everyone in this house would be on the naughty list."

They were cousins, but everything about them screamed sisters; from their attire to the way they tilted their heads.

Even their quizzical looks were similar.

"I'm talking about Santa Klaus," he smirked. "The not so jolly, un-sainted fiend your aunt Caroline forces into a red suit every year."

His voice strained under suppressed amusement.

A warm glow flowed through Elena.

"What?" Eve did a half push up.

"Are you telling us that my dad dresses up as Santa every year?" Hope's features grew animated. "How did we not know this?"

"He wanted to make sure you never saw him," he propped his chin on Elena's head.

"Hope?" Mischief glowed in Eve's eyes. "Suddenly I'm exhausted."

"Me too," she faked a yawn.

Eve grinned. She jumped up, kissed Kol and Elena's cheeks and wished her parents goodnight.

Elena listened to them pass through the halls and wish Klaus and Elijah goodnight.

She turned her head, brushing his collarbone with the tip of her nose.

"You know they're not going to bed, right?" She mumbled, twisting just enough to lazily kiss his neck.

"I know, darling," he chuckled, already picturing Klaus' face when the girls showed up – probably via astral projection.

"What'd he ever do to you?" She snuggled into his arms, practically crawling into his lap.

"Seriously, darling?" Disbelief coloured his tone.

"I meant recently," she mumbled. She would have rolled her eyes if she could have opened them.

"Oh, recently..." he hummed, tipping his head back and playing with her hair. "... recently, nothing."

"Okay," she shifted, getting more comfortable.

"Okay," he kissed her hair. He could hear her heart slowing and her breath evening out. "Should we head off to bed?"

She mumbled something that sounded vaguely negative.

"You're sleeping in the sitting room," he felt his eyes droop, "on top of me."

"You're comfy," she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, "and I want to see Santa Klaus."

"You could just tell _me_ what you want for Christmas," he snickered.

"I just did."

He probably could have stayed awake, but her soft warmth seeped into his mind and he drifted off.

He jerked awake when Klaus yelped and girlish giggles filled the sitting room.

Klaus spun, looming over the couple on the couch, voice rising with his blood pressure.

"You two did this," he roared, motioning toward the laughing teenagers.

"Just him actually," Elena blinked. She smirked up at her husband. "What do you think, babe? Should we get him a big armchair? We could put it between the fire and the tree; the kids can tell him what they want for Christmas."

Klaus turned vermillion.

Elijah came through the door with Freya and Rebekah; Finn and Sage were on their heels.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Rebekah struggled to hide her laughter.

"Dad's..." Eve gasped, clutching her ribs. "Dad's gonna move the chair, and Mom is getting a camera."

"Nobody said anything about a camera," Klaus' eyes widened. He wheeled on his niece.

Elena tapped Kol's chest with the back of her hand. "We could all take one; I see next year's Christmas cards."

Elena didn't realize how loud they were being until she felt the air shift and her eleven year old son appeared.

Erik miscalculated the distance though and stumbled over the arm of the coach, falling on top of his laughing parents.

"Wrong lap, Rik," Hope doubled over, laughing.

He blinked, groggy from being awoken at a late hour, and confused by the raucous laughter of his family. It took him a moment to realize that his uncle wore a red hat and suit.

When he did notice he tipped his head up to his mother.

"You never told me it was Santa Klaus," he pushed his bangs back. "Think of all the postage I wasted."

* * *

Every year she questioned the ability of the compound to accommodate their allies. As time passed and the family grew they had to fit more and more people until they couldn't see across the dance floor for the crowd, but this year was different.

They had transformed the courtyard into the perfect spot for the school dance.

She still wasn't sure how they had done it.

It was Kol's fault, though she suspected Klaus had been involved. They had both freaked when Erik revealed his cousin and sister were 'really looking forward to the party'; his exaggerated tone had been accentuated by kissing sounds.

By the time she and Hayley caught the kids Hope and Eve had tied Erik to a chair and were getting ready to dye his hair bright purple, and their fathers had caused just enough damage to relocate the ball.

She leaned one elbow on the counter, flagging down the bartender they had brought in for the evening.

"Scotch and soda on the rocks, and bourbon, neat," her eyes flickered over the crowd in search of her children.

"I'm gonna need to see your ID, miss," he wiped up a spill.

She tried to hide her annoyance. It was hardly his fault that she was an eternal teenager, or that her children looked more like younger siblings. It was hardly his fault that he had to ask for ID.

It was Kol's fault, and maybe Klaus'; and a little bit hers…definitely Caroline's.

She was the one who compelled the bartender. No teens would be getting drunk on their watch.

It would seem eternal teenagers were included.

"No, you don't," she met his eyes, attempting to compel him. It was a shame that Caroline had put the guy on vervain in preparation for those students who were vampires.

"No ID, no drinks," he shrugged. "I don't make the rules."

She sighed, spinning away from the bar and pushing through the crowd of teenagers. If she was going to deal with her overprotective husband and his brother then she was going to need a drink. She was certain she would have to sneak into the study for Klaus' private stash, but then a few kids moved and she spied her solution and sidled up to it.

"How's my favourite brother-in-law," she shifted on her feet, making her powder blue skirt twirl around her knees, "other than incredibly handsome."

"Should I be jealous?" Sage appeared at his other side with a smirk and a twinkle in her eyes.

"What do you want, Elena?" He chuckled.

"Drinks..." she smiled hopefully, while motioning over her shoulder, "Caroline's handiwork."

"Scotch and soda?"

"And a bourbon, please and thank you," she turned to Sage when he moved through the crowd. "You'd think Caroline would have made exceptions."

"It was last minute," Sage shrugged. "She was a little crazy this morning. Couldn't Kol have gotten your drinks?"

"Without causing a scene?" Elena cocked an eyebrow.

"Fair point," she laughed, "he doesn't look much older than you."

"Especially since he shaved," she glanced toward her husband. He was holding Erik's sleeve, nodding slowly as Erik talked; they looked like brothers.

"Here you are," Finn materialized, passing her two glasses.

"Ah, thank you," she stretched up, pecking his cheek. "You're an angel," she backed into the crowd. "Seriously, I see wings."

She slipped between witches, vampires and wolves until she was on the edge of the dancefloor. With the added room she could walk freely, and she used her newfound freedom to sashay toward her boys.

"What are my favorite troublemakers up to?" She tilted her head. Erik pressed his lips together and lowered his eyes, mumbling under his breath in the hope that she wouldn't hear.

She did.

"Erik Henrik Mikaelson," she would have put her hands on her hips if they weren't full, "what have I told you about doing things that will annoy your sister?"

"I'm not trying to annoy her," he protested.

"No," Elena drew out the word, shaking her head, "you're just trying to embarrass her by tricking your father into creating a public scene which you know he will do. Now, go and find your friends."

"Yes, mom," he hurried off.

"I'd better not find you spiking the punch with Freya's tequila later," she called after him. Once he was out of earshot she placed the glass of bourbon in Kol's hand.

"Thank you," he sipped, staring onto the dancefloor.

"Thank Finn," she drank half her glass, "because I forgot my ID."

"That's nice," he mumbled, staring straight ahead.

"Care compelled the bartender," she went on, tilting her head when he hummed. She followed his gaze and she found Eve's full black shirt spinning around her legs as she was twirled by a laughing Milton Greasley. She wondered how far she could go before the words registered.

"I'm thinking about getting a tattoo," she nursed her drink.

"That's nice, love," he blinked.

Her eyes cut to his vacant face and then around the room, lighting on the one person with the same intent expression.

"A paw print on my lower back," she finished her drink, rolling her eyes when he just nodded again. "Yeah, I thought Klaus might like it... sort of like a claiming thing... you know we've been having an affair for ten years."

"Mmhmm..."

"In fact I think we're gonna sneak off in a few minutes for some hot sex..." another vague noise, "… or maybe we'll just throw down right here."

"Eve might find that embarrassing," his tongue was heavy with sarcasm.

"More or less embarrassing then having her father stare at her and her friend?" She placed her empty glass on a passing server's tray.

"More," he downed his bourbon, "though not as much as when I tear out Niki's liver and feed it too him."

"Leave your brother alone," she turned him by his lapels and then smoothed his black jacket.

"As long as he leaves my wife alone," he placed his hands on her hips.

"You know I don't go for blondes," she caught his jaw, turning his face away from Eve. "Stop spying on her."

"That boy's not good enough."

"Okay," she held his face, "firstly, MG is her friend, and just her friend; trust me, I know the signs of a girl experiencing her first love. And secondly, is there any boy who will ever be good enough for your baby girl?"

"Of course not," he snorted, "no boys, no girls... nothing. She is too young."

"She's seventeen," Elena laughed, "I was dating Stefan at her age."

"If I hold Eve to your standards then she'll be jumping through time within a year and falling in love with a psychotic maniac."

"Well, you can't stop love," she smirked, kissing his cheek. "Now, stop spying on her and ask your beautiful wife to dance."

"But Eve's going to get her heart broken," his eyes flitted to the dance floor.

"I'm pretty sure she'll be the one doing the heartbreaking," she laughed.

The tinkling sound washed over him. The brass band finished off the final strains of 'When the Saints Go Marching In' and picked up a second tune with the promise of sweet romance in the opening bars.

"I love this song;" she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I know," Kol smiled. His heart warmed when a dreamy expression crossed her features. "May I have this dance?"

She opened her eyes slowly, smiling up at him.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Kol swept her into his arms, twirling her around before pulling her close to his chest and singing the words that had once sent their children off to sleep.

Rebekah watched the pair of them from her vantage point on the stairs. She bent over the railing, tapped Elijah's shoulder and nodded.

"How long before they pull a disappearing act?"

He followed her gaze. "Common courtesy dictates they remain until midnight."

"You're talking about Kol and Elena," Klaus glared at the boy twirling his daughter around. "When have they ever let courtesy dictate what they do? They'll be gone in ten minutes."

"My money is on the countdown: 8 seconds," Caroline nodded.

"Five minutes til midnight," Hayley decided.

"I second that," Freya glanced over the crowd.

"I say five seconds," Rebekah smirked. "What are the stakes?"

"Losers have to clean up the party," Caroline cooked an eyebrow, "without compulsion or vampire speed, or magic."

They all nodded in agreement except for Klaus who was too busy glaring at the punk who had dared to dance with his baby girl.

"Klaus, stop planning Landon's murder," Caroline rolled her eyes. "He's a phoenix; he'll just come back."

They had discovered Landon's supernatural species a few month's before. Hope had been taking an unauthorized driving excursion, not realizing Landon and Rafael were walking on the back road. Eve had screamed, but the warning was too late coming. Landon came back in flames and Hope triggered her curse; luckily he hadn't held a grudge and had even helped her through the moon.

"I'm not plotting his murder," Klaus growled, "just ways to keep him from kissing my baby girl at midnight."

"I'm pretty sure they've already kissed," Caroline exchanged a look with Hayley.

"They have been dating since Halloween," Hayley nodded.

"What?" Klaus' voice rose to a dangerous level.

Eve's head snapped toward the steps. She listened for a second and then tapped Landon and Hope's shoulders.

"You might want to run," she tilted her head to the steps. "Uncle Nik just found out you're dating."

"You didn't tell your dad?" Landon's dark brows drew together.

"My dad can be over protective," Hope swallowed.

"What's he gonna do?"

"Let's just say it's a good thing you're immortal," Eve smirked. "And that Aunt Caroline knows how to distract him."

They all watched as the blonde vampire whispered something in his ear. Nothing on earth would have made Eve use her vampire senses to listen in.

* * *

If he had eyes for anyone, or anything, else then he might have noticed his family staring at them. He would have seen the disappointment in Hayley's shoulders, the anticipation in Rebekah's stance, and the flash of Elijah's triumphant grin.

"7... 6... 5..."

He wouldn't have noticed Erik and Eve squabbling in that moment, not in the warmth radiating from her smile.

"4..." Elena tore her eyes away from the clocks to her husband. He was looking at her as if he had never seen anything so beautiful. "3..."

Hunger flashed in his eyes, and like the impulsive vampire he was, he acted.

The compound sped by in a blur of pretty silk and dark fabric.

"2..."

He pressed her to the closed door of their bedroom.

"1..."

Her voice cut off under his lips, and she lost herself in the passionate kiss.

Their breath mingled when he pulled back. She could taste his bourbon on her tongue.

"What was that about?" She peeked up through her lashes.

"What was what about?" He dragged a kiss over her smooth cheeks.

"You stole me from the dancefloor," she toyed with his jacket.

"I wanted to wish you a happy new year," he caught her ear between his teeth, "before you left me for my brother."

"How long will it be before you let me live that down?" Her heart fluttered, pumping heat through her veins.

"Maybe in a decade," he dragged his mouth back to hers, catching her lower lip between his teeth.

"I'm not going anywhere," she murmured, glancing up.

"You're not getting bored of me?" He teased

Elena took his right hand from her hip, dragging it toward her breast where he could feel her heart.

"Every time I meet your eyes, my heart turns over," she breathed. "That hasn't changed, but if you're worried then you could always persuade me."

"And how would I do that?" He arched an eyebrow.

"You could always help me celebrate the New Year," she bit her bottom lip. As she spoke she worked his jacket down his arms. "You know," she mused, "the only thing better than you in a tux is you out of a tux."

She tore off his bow tie and ripped open his shirt, raining buttons down on the hardwood. She set to work claiming every inch of skin she could reach with her teeth while he shed the remnants of his shirt.

He pushed her against the door, attacking her throat with kisses and blunt teeth, creating hickeys that would be gone in moments.

She reached for his belt and gasped when he spun her around. She grasped the back of his neck, tilting her head for his lips continued assault.

He grasped the zipper that was all but invisible against the nude material of her bodice, dragging it down; knuckles trailing over her spine.

Desire curled along, following his touch and gathering between her legs.

The dress pooled around her feet, leaving her in a strapless bra and underwear.

She twisted in his arms, caught the back of his neck.

His hands slipped up her arms, bringing her closer. He slotted a knee between her thighs and claimed her lips in a soft kiss. It was slow and drugging, growing more urgent when she ground down.

She rolled her hips, riding his knee and humming in the back of her throat as the pleasure mounted. Between his kiss, his roving hands and her rolling hips she could have climaxed right there, but then he reached for his belt.

She sped across the room, shoving him down on the bed.

She shed her underthings and was on top of him before he could say anything, dragging her teeth and lips over his chest and down his stomach; deft fingers unfastened his belt.

She took her time undressing him and kissing every inch of skin hungrily. Finally, when their clothes were gone and every inch of her body hummed with anticipation, she straddled his hips.

She sank down, gasping as he filled her.

She took a moment to revel in the feeling and then planted her hand over his heart and moved, rolling her hips down to where he met her motions.

He flipped her over, pinning her body beneath him.

She hooked her legs around his hips, scratching her nails down his back as he moved faster.

Their harsh breath and the sound of skin on skin were the only sounds in the room.

He moved his lips from her neck to her breast and back to her mouth as he thrust.

Her fingers moved up to tangle in his short hair, and tugged gently when he showed again.

She felt her orgasm approaching in her trembling thighs. He sensed it too and snapped his hips faster.

His lips whispered over her cheeks. His right hand slid down her left arm. Entwining their fingers he held her hand down by her head.

She moaned in his mouth, but broke the kiss to arch her back as he whispered words of love on her skin.

Together they fell apart, collapsing against each other and catching their breath.

She threaded her finger through his hair. Her heel slid down over the back of his leg as he kissed the curve of her breast.

"Kol?" She toyed with his hair.

"Mhmm?" He lifted his head.

She caressed his face. "I love you, Kol," she kissed the corner of his mouth, "...so much." She kissed him again, pouring her emotions into it.

"You're just saying that because I made love to you," he smirked, sliding his hand down her silken belly.

"No," she caressed the back of his head. "I mean it Kol," she met his eyes. "I always mean it. I love every part of you, and nothing will ever make me stop."

She pushed him to lie on his back and hovered over him. "You're my darker half. Nobody is complete without a little darkness. You know that, right? You know I love you?"

"Of course I do," he tucked her hair behind her ear. "You're the light of my life, the light to my darkness, and I love you."

"You don't say it very often..." she chuckled.

"Yeah?" He smirked. He chuckled when she nodded. "Then allow me to say it now," he rolled her back over, whispering the words in her ear. "I love you, darling," he kissed her neck, "body," he kissed through the valley of her breasts, "and soul..." he dragged his lips down her stomach.

"I am yours, Elena," he looked up, catching her dark eyes, "and you're mine..."

"Always," she swore, letting her legs fall open.

"Forever," he hooked her thighs over his shoulders.

* * *

"I'm telling you I won," Rebekah gloated.

"The five second mark passed," Elijah shook his head, "so I won."

Caroline rolled her eyes and went back to stacking empty glasses.

"They disappeared before midnight," she crossed her arms.

"Technically that means neither of you won," Caroline surveyed the silver confetti, stuck between the stones on the floor.

"Unless we're following the 'Price is Right' rules," Hayley leaned on a broom handle, "you know, closest without going over?"

"Why would you say that?" Caroline groaned as the siblings started bickering.

"Kol's not here," she shrugged, "so there was a vacuum."

Eve and Hope stepped into the courtyard arm-in-arm followed by a yawning Erik, and the twins.

"What are they arguing about?" Eve watched her aunt and uncle.

"And where's the clean-up crew?" Lizzie's shoes dangled from her finger.

"They are arguing about what your parents are doing," Freya gave Erik a one armed hug. At eleven years old he towered over his five foot nothing sister and stood almost eye to eye with Freya. "And as for clean up, we all lost a bet."

"What bet?" Eve frowned. "And what are mom and dad doing?"

Upstairs Klaus carefully pulled the door shut so as not to disturb the couple on the bed before flashing downstairs.

"Your mother and father are sleeping, Eve," he paused at the bottom of the stairs.

"They're sleeping?" Disbelief coloured Rebekah's voice.

"The ripped clothing scattered around the room suggests not," he snorted. "Really sister, when have you known Kol and Elena to just slept?"

"They've done it before," Caroline rolled her eyes.

"On full moons," Klaus scoffed, "and the moon is not full."

Eve knew she was going to hate herself for asking, but she was pretty sure she had been born without a filter between her brain and mouth.

"What's so special about full moons?"

"Well, sweetheart," Klaus chuckled-he was more than a little drunk, "the last time they did more than sleep during one you got a little brother."

"I knew I'd regret that," Eve held out her hands. She tipped her head back to look up at her baby brother. "It's a shame they didn't sleep that night."

"Hey," Erik exclaimed. "Maybe they should have slept during your full moon."

* * *

The sound of raised voices jerked Kol awake. He blinked, disoriented, and lifted his head.

The familiar sound of his squab ling children reached him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Do you remember when she was excited to have a baby brother?" Rebekah whispered to Freya – she was the one that responded, at least.

"Yeah, but then he arrived and didn't do much for months."

He considered getting up, going downstairs and being the disciplinarian, but that was not how he wanted to start the New Year.

He pulled Elena closer, pressing her back to his chest. With one hand he moved her hair and placed a light kiss on her shoulder. Elena held his arm over her stomach, mumbling unintelligibly and wiggling impossibly close.

This, he decided, was how he wanted to begin 2030.

* * *

Caroline slid into the vacant chair with a loaded tray; Elena and Hayley surveyed the mixture of contents.

"Shots?" Elena cooked an eyebrow. She reached for a lime wedge as Caroline poured.

"When is the last time we did shots?" Hayley spun the salt shaker between her fingers.

"It's been a good decade or so," Sage smirked. "Last time we got Elena tequila drunk she went home and made Erik."

"To be fair," she held out her hands, "Kol was wasted that night as well."

"Weren't you on a blood high when you made Eve?"

"Best nights of my life," Elena smirked. "Although, now that I think about it that might have something to do with their chaotic personalities."

"Right," Caroline passed around the shots, "it has nothing at all to do with their paternal DNA."

Elena eyed the amber liquid with mounting suspicion. There was nothing overtly wrong with tequila, nor was there anything wrong with Caroline's grin, but Caroline's grin partnered with alcohol I was never good.

"What are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything," she protested. "It's the first girl's night of the New Year and Rebekah and Freya are on dates. And I have a question that I have been dying to ask since New Year's Day. Well actually it's been years, but I've always refrained for Bekah and Freya."

Elena downed her shot so she could avoid the look; she knew Caroline was lying.

She had seen something.

"I got to know," she poured Elena a new shot.

Elena closed her eyes, mentally flashing back to the previous afternoon when Kol had her practically bent in half on the library floor. She really should have double checked the door locks.

"That did not look comfortable," she went on.

"What didn't?" Sage glanced between the women.

Elena flushed as Caroline described the position none of them had ever heard of.

"So your weight was on your hands?" Hayley took the way Elena started chugging from the bottle as a yes.

A pleasant burn began to spread through Elena's extremities.

She put down the empty bottle.

"Okay," she smiled, "I'm drunk enough now. And yes my weight was on my hands. They were on the floor and I was pretty much standing on my hands while he held my legs open…"

"And it didn't look comfortable," Caroline smirked.

"It felt so good I really didn't care," Elena shivered, biting her lip. "It's not a beginner move, but oh wow," she giggled, "did he get deep."

"That's the one thing I didn't see," Caroline poured a drink. "Let's talk size. Is it true what they say about tall guys?"

"6'l" isn't tall," Elena frowned.

"It's on the higher end of average," Sage supplied.

"And," Caroline and Hayley prompted.

Elena grinned, leaning in close and whispering. "The higher, higher end of average." She sat back. "I spilled, now it's your turn."

"Are we gonna compare and contrast?" Hayley bit into a lime. "Put it to a vote?"

"There is no point ladies," Elena smirked, "because I will win. He's the best in bed, and he knows like every position imaginable. I swear once a month we are trying something new, like when Caroline walked in."

"Finn's traditional – you probably wouldn't find him very exciting," Sage hummed. "Sometimes I can talk him into something new, but it's always explosive."

"You want some suggestions? I can start you off easy," Elena giggled with Sage.

"I don't think Finn would go for the uh..."

"St. Valentine's Day," she supplied.

"Seriously?"

"Unless Kol was pulling my leg," her eyes twinkled.

"From where I was standing it looked like he was pulling both."

"All about the leverage," Elena raised her glass in salute. There was a round of laughter before she turned to Hayley.

"What about Elijah? Is he boring? Does he strike anyone else as boring?"

There was a chorus of 'yes'.

"I don't know," she pursed her lips, "Elijah might surprise you."

"I don't think I'm capable of being surprised anymore," Elena rested her cheek on her palm. Nobody mentioned it, but they all knew she had aimed for her chin.

"Hayley is the only one of us that can compare and contrast between brothers," Sage crossed her arms on the table.

Hayley tipped her shot glass back and forth ignoring the expectant looks from her sisters as she formulated the words.

"Well," she hummed, "with Klaus I went in with certain expectations, I expected the sex was going to be wild and a little rough; he met all of them, and he's got a definite alpha male thing going on. Elijah, on the other hand..." Hayley's eyes sparkled as she leaned in close. "With the amount of experience they're all gonna be good, but you expect quiet and boring with him."

"Are you telling us he's not?"

* * *

"Are my ears bleeding?" Eve pointed. "I think they're bleeding."

"They look fine to me," Landon stirred his milkshake with a straw.

Hope sipped her smoothie, squinting at the dangling flakes of snow – her Christmas present.

"All I see are two perfectly spelled snowflake earrings," she tilted her head. "What's going on Evie?"

Eve hesitated before jerking her chin. "Our moms are here, and they're talking"

"About what?"

"Something Aunt Caroline said was uncomfortable," Erik dropped into the empty space by Eve.

"They're talking graphically about sex," she watched her baby brother turn green. "I shouldn't have to listen to the visual details of how my parents go at it." She closed her eyes and shuddered. "And I really didn't need to know that Hope was conceived on the dining room table."

Landon choked and Hope spewed. Strawberry smoothie sprayed the table.

"Eww," she shuddered. "Why would you tell me that? I didn't wanna know that!"

"You think I did?" She pressed her hands to her chest. Her eyes snapped to the left. "What are you doing here, Erik? Don't you have friends to hang out with?"

"They're not back from winter break yet," he stole her untouched smoothie, "and everyone went out."

"Awe," she patted the top of his head, "is the poor ickle baby scared to be home alone?"

"Cut it out," he trembled.

Eve froze, the smirk on her face melting away to be replaced with a concerned frown.

"What's wrong?"

"Can't you feel it?" His eyes flickered between them.

"We weren't born with your sixth sense," Hope glanced at Landon, reaching for his hand under the table. "What do you feel?"

Erik jiggled his foot, a nervous habit he had picked up from his mother, and looked around.

Everything seemed normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and yet his heart pumped cold blood and his hair stood up on his neck.

"Something is coming," he chewed his bottom lip. "Something bad."

Eve couldn't resist the quip, partly because she wanted to be right.

"Is it puberty?"

* * *

"Your turn," Elena grinned, once they had their laughter under control.

Caroline's eyes bulged. "You already heard about Klaus."

"From someone whose frame of reference is a one night stand from over eighteen years ago; you've seen much better than Hayley."

"Yeah," Hayley slurred, "spill it Care bear! You've got way more sushi... jus hi... suicy details than me."

"You're hampered," Elena giggled. "Completely shloshed... so-loshed..." she frowned, but didn't stop shaking, "hampered?"

"I believe the words you seek are 'hammered' and 'sloshed'," a smooth voice spoke over their heads.

"That's the one," Elena declared. She jumped to her feet and promptly stumbled over her heels. Large hands caught her around the waist before she could fall flat on the table.

"Hands off my wife," Kol gave a pointed look down.

"Then you'd best collect her, brother. If I let go she will fall."

"My legs work just find."

"When they're on the floor," Caroline muttered.

Sage choked on her drink.

Finn gave her a napkin.

"What was that sweetheart?" Klaus tilted his head.

"Noshing," Elena giggled. She threw her arms around Kol's neck, nearly hitting Elijah in the face.

"You're pretty."

"No, no, darling," he chuckled, wrapping her in his arms, "you're pretty. I am devilishly handsome."

"I would have said that she's beautiful and you're conceited," Finn smirked.

"She's taken," Kol turned his head. Her clumsy fingers ran through his hair. "What exactly have you ladies been up to? Aside from the blatant intoxication of my wife, I mean."

"Nothing," Caroline denied

Elena lost interest in the conversation and turned her full attention on her husband, namely by moulding herself to his lean body and kissing his neck.

"Elena," Elijah cleared his throat.

She ran her hand down Kol's spine.

"This is a new level of intoxica..." Kol broke off with a startled yelp when she pinched his behind.

"Okay..." He grabbed her arms and held them behind her back.

"Kinky," Caroline's comment sent all four girls into a fit of laughter.

Elena wiggled free and dropped back into her seat.

"What is going on here?" Klaus' eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," Hayley waved her shot glass around. "We were in the middle of a very serious conversation so you can just go."

"Are you sure you don't want them to weigh in?"

"This has nothing to do with them," Caroline scoffed.

"Technically it has everything to do with them," Sage dried her hands.

"Wonderful," Klaus shook his head, "they're talking about us. Well, what is it this time?"

"Isn't it obvious, Nik?" Kol smirked. He could still hear Caroline's stumbled apology. "They are comparing notes to decide which of us is the superior lover?" He bent to whisper in his wife's ear. "What's the verdict, my darling?"

Caroline attempted to kick her friend under the table, but couldn't find her own foot.

Elena giggled, oblivious to the way Finn shook his head. Deaf to Elijah's long suffering sigh. And blind to Klaus' reddening face.

"We haven't voted yet. Caroline needs more tequila before we can hear about Klaus and make an informed decision."

Caroline swayed dangerously in her chair and opened her mouth, waving her hand around.

"Unlike you, I don't require further intoxication."

She took a deep breath.

Klaus grabbed her around the waist and ran.

"Spoil sport," Elena pouted. Her eyes landed on Elijah when he righted the vacated chair. A few drinks earlier and she might have tried to stop the laughter that bent her in two.

"Darling," Kol glanced at his brother, "what's so funny?"

"Nothing," she wheezed, "your brother just has an alter ego."

Elijah's eyes darted to Hayley's flushed cheeks.

"Do I want to know what you told them?"

She flushed deeper in response, pressing her mouth into a line.

Elena wiped tears from her eyes.

"So," Kol cleared his throat, "when will we receive the poll results?"

"When Caroline gets back."

"I'm pretty sure she is facing Niki's wrath for humiliating him in public," he tugged on Elena's ear.

"Kinky," she waggled her eyebrows. That set Sage and Hayley off again.

Elena poured herself a shot – unsure if it was her sixth or six hundredth – and stared at the liquid thoughtfully before turning to Sage.

"Do you think Hayley will be facing Elijah's wrath?"

Elijah sputtered as the trio broke out in another fit of giggles, and came to a decision that girl's night was over.

Hayley flashed a grin as she was pulled to her feet.

"And then there were two," Elena sang.

"And I was so hoping for the results," Kol rolled his eyes. He picked Elena up and set her on her feet.

"Come on, darling. It's time you were in bed."

"Sounds good," she purred.

* * *

Eve sank into her booth as dad led mom from Rousseau's. She yanked her hair forward and covered her bright face so she wouldn't have to look at the world's most embarrassing parents. She doubted she would be able to meet their eyes before Valentine's Day. The second she thought of the holiday she heard her mom's extremely graphic description all over again.

"Someone put me out of my misery," she groaned.

"Want me to put you to sleep?" Hope sipped her smoothie.

"This is so unfair," she sat up, leaning over the table. "We had to hear intimate details about mom and dad, but you get off with a tiny tidbit about your conception because Uncle Nik dragged Aunt Caroline out of here like a bloody caveman."

"That reminds me..." Hope flipped over her phone and started typing.

"What are you doing?" Landon's eyes flickered over her face.

"Texting my dad 'thank you', with a heart emoji."

Eve surged up onto her feet. "Look at my poor baby brother; he's traumatized!"

Hope exchanged a look with Landon.

"You alright, Erik?" He tilted his head.

"Am I gonna be as good as that?" He tilted his head, more to annoy his sister than anything.

"Shut up, Rik!"

"Only if he did a good job while conceiving you, you little turnip," Hope gave him a sympathetic look. "He was drunk though, so probably not. You'll be a little turnip forever."

"Hope... Eve?" Finn approached the booth. "Erik? How long have you been here?"

"Too long," Eve groaned.

"Oops." Sage giggled.

* * *

She slammed him into the rough brick of the alley; red dusted his jacket. Her long fingers worked the fine powder from his hair.

"Darling," he held her hips, "what has gotten in to you tonight."

Blunt teeth caught his bottom lip and tugged.

"Tequila," she plunged her tongue into his mouth, sliding it over his. His answering groan rumbled through her chest.

He sank into her kiss, more than happy to be where he was, and drunk enough that he didn't care about her hastily selected venue; he never tired of kissing her. A few drinks more and he would have taken her right there against the bricks and finished the demolition she began.

He wasn't that drunk.

She took heavy breaths, drunk on alcohol, drunk on his proximity. She transferred her kisses to his cheeks, his jaw, and that one spot on his throat.

Her teeth grazed his carotid.

His knees buckled.

"Darling," he groaned.

She freed his shirt from his jeans, reaching for his belt; it took every ounce of his limited self control to grab her hands.

"It's a full moon."

He felt her pout against his collarbone. Her voice emerged in a whine.

"When's it over?"

"I'm not sure," he chuckled. Her arousal tickled his senses. "Why don't we go home and I'll worship you like the goddess you are."

"And what goddess is that?" She squealed as he lifted her into his arms.

"Aphrodite, of course," the look he gave her sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine.

"Does that make you Hephaestus?"

"How can you mess up sloshed, but have no problem with Hephaestus?" He shook his head. "And no, if I am any god I'm Ares."

"But," an adorable gasp escaped her lips, "they weren't married. If you're Ares then where's my hushband."

"Oh please," he carried her to the end of the alley. "They were wed in all but name."

"I suppose," she huffed, tossing her head back.

The teasing smile dropped.

"Kol," he could hear the frown in her voice, "did you bite the moon?"

"Did I what?" He stepped out onto the street.

His breath caught.

Her skin was bathed in red.

He followed her gaze up.

A full moon loomed above them, and as they watched it was overtaken with red. When the very last of white was gone chaos reigned.

Hurricane force winds blew through the streets.

The earth shook.

Lights blew out.

Water bubbled up from the sewers.

People screamed.

Metal screeched.

New Orleans bathed in blood.

It seemed to stop as fast as it began.

Elena watched the red drain from the moon and wrapped her arms around Kol's neck.

"That's not good, is it?"

"No, my love," he turned his head, meeting her eyes. "It's not."

* * *

A lone woman sat calmly amidst the running civilians; her pale eyes trained on the young couple across the street.

"I was hoping for more of a reaction."

"No, no, Stavros," she smiled, slow and cruel. "Slow terror is perfect." She cocked her head to the side, listening in on a conversation behind them.

"Call the other Harvest witches..." She caught sight of a short woman around thirty with curly black hair. "Tell them to meet me in the cemetery."

She watched the witch go and grinned.

"My brilliant day just got better."

* * *

Erik crawled out from under the table and glared at his older sister as she picked some broken glass out of her hair.

"I told you so."

"It was just an earthquake Erik," she sighed and slung her arm around his shoulders. "Davina and Monique probably had an argument."

"What about the wind?"

"Abigail probably joined the fray," Hope walked backwards through the door. Water soaked through her shoe. She shook her foot.

"Cassie too?" Erik gave them both a disbelieving look.

Hope exchanged a glance with Eve.

"Obviously."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's everyone making out?
> 
> I myself have been inside for a week because of the quarantines in place (I'm not sick, but everything has shut down because of the virus).
> 
> Hopefully this new chapter brightens your day.

Late... late... late...

She could already hear Monique's biting tone. Nearly eighteen years to the day and she still took every chance to call her out for tardiness. The barbs had dulled over the years, but they still came.

She had reached the point in her life where she made a point to provoke her sister witch.

New Orleans was peaceful.

She had to amuse herself somehow.

Monique made it too easy, but this time she hadn't gone out of her way to tick the woman off.

The earthquake and subsequent accidents woke Elle from her sound sleep; it had taken the joint efforts of both her and Kaleb to return their three year old child to sleep.

She doubted Monique would understand; she didn't have kids.

Cassie might get it... or maybe Abigail.

Monique would pick a fight.

Except something wasn't right.

Monique should have been standing outside the Lycée with her hands on her hips, hundreds of flickering candles illuminating her silhouette.

She should have been waiting.

She wasn't.

The same survival instinct that delayed the Harvest by a year reared its head, biting down on her tongue. Monique would have said that her instinct was stupid and that she should ignore it which was the very reason she listened.

She pushed the door open and held her breath as she stepped over the overgrown vines.

White wax dripped off an overturned candle falling into a small puddle of shiny red wax. Except they didn't have red candles.

She knelt, reaching with a deceptively steady hand for the warm red liquid.

She pulled her arm back.

Blood trickled down her fingers.

She wasn't a vampire, but she knew blood.

Slowly she followed the puddle, crawling around the table until she bumped against something that definitely shouldn't have been on the floor.

A knot formed below her heart.

"Monique?" She whispered, feeling for a pulse.

She twisted her neck and spotted a barefoot and blond hair. "Abigail? Cassie?"

Both women stared with unseeing eyes.

"Don't dismiss the elements..." A woman crooned, "for there is no sweeter blood.'"

The whisper brushed Davina's ear. Thin fingers held her down and she found herself trapped in a woman's arms before she could even think of moving.

"Who are you?" She tried to twist free.

Sharp teeth grazed her throat.

She flinched and gasped, the action causing a pinprick.

"You're different," she purred, licking a drop of blood, "spicy, not sweet."

Davina's brain went blank for a moment, like someone hit delete and erased every spell she had ever learned.

She repeated the question.

"Oh my little Harvest witch," a hand reached for Davina's throat. "I was you once upon a time. Your element was mine. I'll savour you... fire is a delicacy."

Davina struggled. The only thing she could think of was boiling her blood, but it was rather hard to concentrate with fangs in her throat.

Everyone always said their lives flashed before there eyes, but she didn't see everything.

She saw her family.

She saw Elle.

She saw Kaleb.

And she heard him whisper the first spell they learned together.

She murmured the words and fell down on hard stone; in the distance she heard a delighted laugh.

"I know you're still here."

* * *

People always said to never walk through the Bronx at night. The neighbourhood was unsafe during the day, but when the sun went down it was best to avoid the area entirely if the goal was to avoid theft, assault and homicide.

Of course, that rule didn't apply to those of an undead nature.

They had nothing to worry about. He had no conceivable reason to fear leaving his brother alone in the car for three minutes while he popped inside to pay for gas; which was why he was very confused, and more than a little upset when he returned and saw the shattered glass that had recently been the passenger window. If he wasn't hurt then he would be soon.

That car was a classic.

He followed his ears toward the sounds he had initially dismissed: thuds, grunts and clangs.

The metallic scent of fresh blood hit his senses, but he was unsure how to react to what he saw.

His brother was pinned to the ground with three pieces of rebar stuck through his body, turning his internal organs to ground beef.

Normally that would have been cause to run forward and pull the rebar free, use it on the person who had inflicted the initial pain and then get some fresh blood to help him heal... normally, but the person causing pain shouldn't have been able to cause him pain, so he stood frozen.

She had legs that went on for days and were made longer by the high heels she used to stomp down.

"Lexi?" He found his voice.

She paused, spiked heel hovering an inch above Damon's eye; the black veins under her eyes vanished, red fading to hazel.

"Hi," she grinned, holding up a single finger. "Just give me one second."

"To what," he held out his hands, "blind my brother?"

Damon groaned, but stayed still; any move set his body aflame.

"I wanted to kill him," she tilted her head, sleek hair tumbled over her shoulder, "but since he's your brother and I love you I'm gonna settle for maiming."

"It looks like you've already maimed."

"No where near enough."

"You've had your fun," Damon panted, blood coating his lips.

"Shut up, Damon," Lexi lowered her foot, "nobody asked you."

"Maybe," Stefan slowly approached them, "we could postpone the maiming? You could give him a good beating once a day for the next ten years."

"I doubt I'll have that kind of time, Stef."

"All the more reason to spend it with me," he smiled. "Come on, lets get a drink, and you can tell me all about how you got here."

Lexi smirked.

"Make it blood and you've got a deal."

"Deal," he grinned.

She threw her arms around him; he returned the hug and then bent to yank the rebar from Damon.

"Now, can one of you tell me what happened to my car?"

"It was fine when I dragged Damon here."

* * *

Several dozen books in several dozen languages covered the bed and night stands from the last few hours reabsorbing the knowledge inside.

Kol flipped through the pages with one hand, using the other to trace vague patterns along her spine. When they started their research she would giggle and squirm every time his fingers teased the dimples in her back, but she had fallen silent a few moments ago.

"Darling," he turned a page, "have you found something?" There was no response. "Darling?"

He finished his sentence and turned enough to see her.

His eyes followed the length of her spine up to where her shoulders had fallen.

A red grimoire acted as an impromptu pillow.

He briefly considered waking her so they could keep working, but nothing had happened since the earthquake – not as much as an aftershock.

He took the book from under her head, moved a few more and stretched out behind her for a short break.

Odds were it was the Harvest Girls anyway.

* * *

She stumbled at the top of the stairs and would most definitely have fallen end over end in a poor imitation of a somersault if not for the swift hands on her hips. Instead she fell back into strong arms and a broad chest.

"I do know how to walk," she glanced up over her shoulder, "I've been doing it successfully, on my own, since I was one year old."

"The task becomes decidedly harder after three bottles of tequila and three inch heels," he rolled his eyes.

"I have my feet under me again," she looked toward the open door. A feral growl rumbled up from the darkened depths of the cellar.

"It sounds like someone might be loose," he spun her toward the entry in a slow circle, "best let me handle this one, love."

"Are you scared some other wolf is going to bite me?" She tilted her head, smirking.

"I'd rather not take the risk, and I'm the only wolf allowed to bite you, sweetheart," he cocked an eyebrow.

She backed toward the door. "Jealousy is a cute look on you; at least when it's not murderous."

"I've never been murderously jealous," he glared.

"Tyler?" She grinned when he sputtered.

She left him to the cellar and ran across the open field to the school, following her ears toward the dining hall where students and staff had congregated.

Several flashlight beams hit her face at the same moment, dazzling her. She shielded her eyes, blinking away the bright spots.

"Is everyone still accounted for?"

"Everybody but dad," Lizzie lowered her flashlight.

"He went to get the lights back on," Josie tucked her hair behind her ear and then crossed her arms. "Mom, what happened? Are Jed and Raf okay?"

"Klaus is checking on them right now," Caroline glanced around the room. Aside from a few broken glasses the dining hall appeared untouched. "There was an earthquake, so far that's all we know. Was it bad out here?"

"The ground shook, some stuff broke and the lights turned off," MG spoke up from the other side of the room.

"They turned off?" She took the flashlight from Lizzie and directed it toward the ceiling with its intact lightbulbs; they flickered to life as she stared. "Must have blown a breaker," she murmured.

"At least they didn't explode," Klaus glanced up as he walked in.

"Is that what happened in town?" Josie blew out the candles on the table.

"Amongst other things."

* * *

"Is everyone alright?" Hayley called. She swayed on the spot and accepted the blood bag Elijah handed her. She downed it and moved further into the crowd, meeting Jackson halfway to the fire pit; her eyes flickered to the scorched trees nearby.

"For the most part we're fine," he nodded. "Minor scrapes and bruises, a few broken bones and one nasty burn, but only the triggered wolves and everyone is already healing."

"Does anyone need assistance in healing, so they are prepared to shift back?" Elijah looked around.

"Maybe Oliver," Jackson jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "It was a really bad burn."

* * *

"Okay," Eve shut the bedroom door, "I can feel you tossing and turning all the way down the hall. Your restlessness is rubbing off on me."

She dropped on the bed.

"Sorry," Hope shifted, laying her head on Eve's shoulder. "It's the fall moon. It's making me..."

"Restless?" Eve smirked.

"I feel like I'm gonna jump out of my skin. I swear it's getting worse each month."

"You only turned the once; all that energy is building up." She tilted her head, staring at the ceiling.

"I wish it would go away," Hope groaned, tossing her arm over the side of the bed.

"Maybe it can," Eve smirked.

"How?" Hope laughed. Muscles twitched in her legs.

"You already said it," she propped her body on her elbow. "Lafayette will be empty;" she wiggled her eyebrows. "The perfect place to jump out of your skin."

* * *

Frozen bricks scraped her back, pulling at her jacket and matted hair. The cold grounded her as her head spun. Panic she once knew well rioted inside her; she thought after eighteen years she would have forgotten the feeling, but she hadn't.

She tugged at her blood soaked scarf, struggling to pull the ends tight for the limited pressure.

An involuntary cry escaped; she slapped her hand over her mouth, ineffectively stifling the sound.

"Come out, come out wherever you are."

It was difficult to tell over the pounding of her own heart, but it sounded like her tormentor was one or two rows away; definitely blocking the side entrance she had been racing for.

Her pocket vibrated.

She pulled out the phone with clumsy fingers. Through the haze of her blood loss she read the incoming message.

 **KALEB** : Everything alright? I can call Josh to sit if you need help.

"I can smell you," the woman giggled. "It's intoxicating. You wouldn't believe how much."

Did she need help?

"Witches make the greatest meals."

Yes, she needed help.

"Maybe I'll turn you, and you can find out yourself."

Was she going to involve her husband, and potentially leave her daughter an orphan?

Hell no.

She braced her legs, summoned what little strength she had and pushed away from the mausoleum.

There was one tomb, and if she didn't look back she had a descent chance of making it. Her predator seemed more intent on stalking for the time being.

She could make it.

She just had to weave.

Her feet took her from one tomb to another until she saw the outline of the building she wanted.

She stumbled through the open door, dropped to her knees. Her palms scraped over the floor, but she didn't realize they were bleeding until she sealed the entrance with a spell.

It was only after her heart calmed and she had fallen flat on her back that she realized what was wrong in the crypt.

The door should not have been open. The candles should not have been lit. And the urns should not have been broken.

She swore and picked up a broken piece of pottery. Her thumb traced the raised ridges of the crest as she pulled out her phone.

* * *

"Clever little witch," Ariadne tilted her head. She pulled on the door experimentally. Her free hand pressed against the crest.

Once upon a time the ornate 'M' had made her heart pound. It had filled her body with intense feelings of love and lust; now it filled her with rage and a lust for revenge.

"What are you doing?"

Ariadne spun, coming face to face with a teenage girl. She scrutinized her features from the soft brown waves around her familiar face to her dark eyes that radiated a contradicting light. She knew the curve of the girl's mouth – the hidden smile lingering in the corner.

But that wasn't possible.

Was it?

"Midnight site seeing tour." Ariadne stepped away from the building, sizing the girl up.

"My grandparent's tomb isn't on any tour," she crossed her arms.

"Your grandparents?" Her eyes flickered to the family crest on the girl's wrist; the 'M' gleamed on a bracelet.

"Yes," she glanced to Ariadne's daylight necklace. "You should probably go. The cemetery's not safe tonight; unless you wanna die from a wolf bite."

"There are wolves in the cemetery?"

"Tonight there are," she smirked.

Ariadne's eyes narrowed. "I suppose I should go."

She circled around and took five steps for show. Then she turned.

"You're a Mikaelson?" She tilted her head. "I've had a few run-ins with the family, but I don't recognize you." She waved one finger. "You're not afraid of wolves so you must be one of Klaus' hybrids. Did they adopt you?"

She nodded to the crest.

"No," she twisted the bracelet. "I'm an Original: Kol and Elena's daughter. I thought everyone knew me. I'm Eve."

"No, no," Ariadne lied smoothly, "I know you. I just didn't realize you were you. Have a lovely night Eve Mikaelson. I'm certain our paths will cross again soon."

* * *

Any other person and she might have found the sight before her adorable, but she refused to place that label on her annoying older brother. The last time he had been adorable was before he pushed her into the river before she was ready and put the grass snake in her bed; he was the worst child. Thankfully his children took after their mother... for the most part.

Elena, she would label adorable.

It was certainly cute the way she faced her husband, face upturned in expectation of his good morning kiss. It was sweet, the way she snuggled into his side.

But Kol was involved so it was not adorable.

Rebekah glanced down as she crossed the bedroom, unsurprised by the missed call on Elena's phone. It was only natural that Davina tried her first.

She snapped her finger in Kol's ear.

He jerked, rolling onto his back. His clouded eyes landed on Rebekah.

"What?" He snapped.

Elena snuggled into his side; her lips brushed his neck.

Kol made an effort to control his tone.

"What's wrong with you Bex? It's the middle of the night."

"Wee hours of the morning, actually," she corrected in a hushed whisper as she motioned to the door. "Shut up, and get your shoes on. We're going to the cemetery."

"Why?" He carefully sat up so as not to displace Elena.

"Davina called," she paused in the door. "There's a problem." Her eyes gleamed in the dark. "There's a mystery to solve."

"I see," he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "And when exactly did I become Watson to your Holmes?"

"When I saw Elena was asleep," Rebekah grinned. "Now get your lazy arse out of bed, and follow me. This is serious."

"Your grin says otherwise," he muttered, but followed all the same. He paused for a moment to brush Elena's hair from her face and kiss her brow.

"Come on," Rebekah hissed. "We haven't got all night. I'm absolutely starved for some entertainment."

* * *

A rational person would have been terrified of the glowing eyes and razor sharp fangs. Even an irrational person would have felt an inkling of fear.

Who wouldn't scream at the sight of that muzzle lunging for the throat?

It was normal; she, however, was not.

"Alright," Eve propped herself on her elbows, "you've had your fun."

The wolf growled the sound rumbling through its body.

"Is that meant to scare me?" She rolled her eyes. "We shared a crib Hope, I know you're not gonna bite me."

Hope pushed her back down, pressing her little cousin's body flat to the stone. She lifted her muzzle, scenting the air before slowly slinking off of Eve and stalking towards the end of the alley between the mausoleums.

Eve rolled up, jumping to her feet; her heels made a hollow click as she shifted. She held out her hands when Hope's head spun around and she found herself in the clutches of her yellow eyes. She took another step.

Hope huffed, muzzle dropping to Eve's shoes.

"Okay," she whispered, "I get the message." She slipped off her shoes and held them in one hand, padding towards the light on bare feet. She pressed herself into the shadows when she caught what Hope had already smelled.

Spilled blood lingered in the air, faint but fresh. The copper floated on the breeze, creating a shimmering path that she could almost see that led towards the cemetery gates.

Hope peeked around the wall and then bounded off.

Eve followed at a human jog, cutting between crypts and through shadows. At one point she lost sight of Hope.

She stuttered to a halt in the middle of two rows and spun in a circle, searching with her other senses for any sign of her.

Claws on stone made a distinctive sound; at least they had at first before Hope learned to shift her weight to the pads of her paws.

She heard nothing.

She saw nothing.

And all she could smell was the blood.

It was making her quite hungry.

"You look lost."

Eve spun, nearly dropping her bag with Hope's clothes. Her eyes narrowed as a man she had never seen before stepped out of the shadows.

"I'm fine," she adjusted her shoulder strap. "I know this cemetery like the back of my hand."

"And yet," his accent thickened, "you wear the look of the lost."

She thought he sounded Greek.

"The look of the lost?" Her spine stiffened. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up when he looked her over. That look of unbridled hunger sent chills down her spine.

"Yes," he tilted his head. "There is this desperate gleam in your eye. May I offer my assistance?"

"Like I said," Eve crossed her arms, "I know this cemetery like the back of my hand." She and Hope used to run through the lanes as children, playing a game of tag or hide and seek that nobody else fully understood.

"The back of your hand, hmm?" His eyes glittered. "Then perhaps you could help me. I seem to be lost."

"And yet," Eve arched an eyebrow, "you wear shining armor."

"I'm no white knight," he circled around her slowly.

"I worked that one out for myself," she scoffed. What was up with the vampires tonight? New Orleans was known as a supernatural mecca for everyone; any vampire worth their fangs knew to stay indoors on full moons. Ok… maybe not New Orleans vamps, but they still avoided the cemetery. Full moons belonged to the witches.

"You're a clever one," he hummed.

"Well, I try," she took a step away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find my cousin."

"Are you so desperate to flee?"

He snatched her elbow, whirling her into the nearest building.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Eve's voice rose, heightened by her disbelief.

"You are a Mikaelson," he tightened his hold on her arm, lifting her wrist enough so he could see the bracelet. "A new Mikaelson and I find myself desperate to know you better."

"So you do know," she tried to wrench away. He was older than her though; beyond the two centuries she could have physically overpowered. "That makes you really stupid."

He caught her other wrist when she tried to strike. "You have your mother's attitude."

"I got a lot from my mother," she smirked. The blood on his mouth taunted her. "My dad, too. You're messing with the wrong girl, mate," her voice shifted on the final word in a perfect imitation of her father's accent. "Let me go now, or I swear you'll regret it."

"You've a sharp tongue," he chuckled. He lowered his head, hot breath fanning over her ear. "The things I could do with it…"

A feral growl came from her left. Her attacker straightened up, turning his head ever so slightly toward the wolf. She felt the shiver of fear when he saw the glowing yellow eyes.

"I got this, babe," Eve glanced toward Hope.

He frowned when the wolf relaxed marginally. His brows furrowed when he met Eve's eyes again. "You don't have anything."

"Wanna bet?" Eve smirked, ignoring the desire of her knees to knock together. Her eyes flickered over the vampire's shoulder to where dawn threatened to break over a mausoleum. She met his gaze again, letting her pupils dilate and her tone drop to the persuasive voice she had perfected with her mother's help.

"Let go of me, take off your ring and give it to me."

He released her, robotically pulling the jewelry from his finger. He dropped it in her outstretched palm.

Eve pocketed the powerful talisman and tilted her head, tone shifting to one she might have used in a friendly conversation.

"If I were you I'd make a break for it now," she motioned to the sunrise.

"What's stopping me from taking it back?" He surged forward, pinning her to the wall between his arms.

"This," she caught his chin, compelling him further as the back of his neck began to bubble. "You are never going to lay a hand on me again."

"You're an Original," rage flashed behind his gaze.

"Hybrid, born and raised, darling," she shoved him backwards. "You met the vampire. Now run from the sun, and pray you never meet the witch."

Eve suspected he might have stayed longer – she hadn't exactly compelled him to leave – but the break of day made the final decision for him. Once he was gone from sight the tremor began, swathing over the back of her legs upwards through her entire body. She used the wall to slide to the ground.

Hope padded over, laying her upper body over Eve's legs.

She threaded her fingers in the coarse fur until she found the soft inner layer. She fisted the thick wool and tried to take deep breaths.

* * *

Kol smelled the blood long before he saw a body, and he stopped up short, frowning when his sister paused further along a different path.

"It's coming from this way," he nodded.

"Davina's insisted we meet her at the tomb," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

"Which one would that be little sister?" Kol's eyes flickered from left to right, bouncing off the dozen tombs in the immediate vicinity.

"Ours," she walked backwards. Her eyes narrowed the further she went. Faint traces of blood teased her tongue.

Kol took one last look towards the blood and then followed his sister through the fog. They moved from one aisle to another and would have lost each other in the sun kissed mist on several occasions.

Heels clicked over stone to his right. He paused. From the corner of his eye he caught the edge of a long skirt and blonde curls disappearing around a corner.

"A little early for tourists," he called.

"Could be a witch?" Rebekah shrugged. "They're probably meeting everywhere to figure out what happened last night."

"I thought that was the Harvest girls," he reluctantly moved on. Through the fading fog he saw the family crest on their mausoleum. "Is it odd that a family of immortals has a tomb?"

"Would you rather keep our dearly departed parents in the house?" Rebekah tilted her head to the left. "We could clear a spot on the mantle."

"I'd rather not have mother and father looking down on us for the rest of eternity. They can rot far away from us."

"I don't know how much rotting urns of ashes can do," she rolled her eyes, "but I share your sentiment."

"We all do," he glanced over his shoulder. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him, scrutinizing his every move from the shadows. "So where is Davina Claire?"

"Technically she's Davina Westphall now," Rebekah reminded him.

"I do recall offering my heartfelt condolences to Kaleb."

"And I recall Davina giving you a wicked migraine for the comment," she smiled. It was the rare witch that could take on her brother and live to tell the tale; though she suspected Elena had more to do with Davina's living than Kol's 'good' nature. "She's inside."

"That's funny," he rocked back on his heels. "Where is she really? Come on, Bex. You dragged me out of bed for the little witch…"

"Kol," she crossed her arms. "Davina is inside."

"She can't be inside," he scoffed at the very idea. "Elena and I insured this tomb was locked up tighter than Fort Knox. Nobody in or out."

"Which is exactly the mystery we have come to solve," she motioned to the door. "Open it up."

"I would need Elena for that," he cocked an eyebrow.

"Were you not listening brother? Somebody has busted through the powerful wards Elena erected. Only Davina is protecting this place now, and you're more than capable of overpowering a single Harvest witch. All four of them would be a different story."

"Fine," he lifted his hands, channeling his magic towards the door and only half believing it would work. " _Dissera portus."_ His eyes widened when the heavy stone was all but blown off its hinges.

"Told you so."

He ignored his sister's crowing and raced inside where blood and a weak heartbeat greeted him.

"Oh my… Davina…" Rebekah dropped to her knees. Her teeth tore into her wrist before she pressed her skin to the witch's mouth, not pulling away until some of the colour returned to her face.

Davina's eyes fluttered open. She blinked a few times and then managed to focus on the Original looming over her.

"I said Elena," she turned to Rebekah.

"Sorry, love," she shrugged. "Once Elena's asleep she's pretty much dead to the world. Only the kids and Kol are capable of waking her."

"So why didn't you wake her?" She glared up at him.

"Wake my wife from a peaceful slumber for you?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Darling, I would have to genuinely like you to do that. And I've disliked you since you upset my pregnant wife."

"I'd rather deal with your 'pregnant' wife."

"Everyone would, Davina." Rebekah smirked. "A hormonal Elena is preferable to Kol any day of the week."

"Ouch," he pressed his hand to his chest, feigning hurt. He dropped the act after a moment to glower at Davina. "How did you get in here?"

"The door was open." She got to her feet, rolling her neck and pulling the scarf away; it resisted at first, stuck in place by her dried blood but after a second sharp yank it came free.

"You didn't think to stay outside and call us?" His eyes flickered to her throat.

"I was a little busy running for my life," she snapped. "There's a psycho in the cemetery."

"I only see you." Kol tilted his head.

"Then you're extremely unobservant," she waved behind his body. "Did you even notice that your parent's urns are smashed to bits?"

He turned around and felt his heart still in his chest. Two indestructible urns lay in pieces near the wall with no sign of ash anywhere. He caught a glimpse of Rebekah's face when she stepped up beside him and twisted to fully take in her grim expression.

"Entertained yet?"

* * *

Elena held her cell phone too her ear and pulled some clothes from the closet. The call connected when she started to shimmy out of her jeans; she switched it to speaker.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hey, Bekah. Is Kol with you? He wasn't here when I woke up. _"_

" _Yes, I hope you don't mind. I borrowed him for a while."_

"Is everything okay?" She reached behind her back, struggling with the zipper.

" _It's…"_

Elena glanced at the phone when she heard a slight scuffle.

" _Good morning, my darling… everything is… fine…"_

"You're a terrible liar, Kol Mikaelson," she rolled her eyes.

" _I'm an excellent liar. You, however, need some practice. Everything is perfectly fine."_

 _"For now…"_ Rebekah sang.

If Elena didn't know any better she would have said the blonde sounded equal parts excited and tense.

"Kol, what is going on?"

" _I really didn't want to discuss this over the phone,"_ he sighed. _"There's been an incident in Lafayette. Let's call it a break from recent peace for now."_

_"Why don't we call it me wanting to spend quality time with my brother?"_

Kol groaned.

_"You two call this quality time?"_

"Was that Davina?" Elena grinned triumphantly when she managed to pull up the zipper.

_"Yes it was. We're going to investigate and then Rebekah and I will be home."_

"Okay," she nodded slowly, as if he could actually see her. "Be careful and let me know what's going on later. Oh… and please don't come home screaming at each other."

* * *

Kol hung up the phone and gestured towards the corpses that had oh so recently been witches.

"Quality time?"

"Oh come on," Rebekah grinned. "You have to admit that this is a beautiful sight. It reminds me of the good old days."

"Beautiful?" Davina practically shrieked. "These are my friends."

"Really?" Kol's eyes darted from Davina to Monique. "I seem to recall that one locking you in a nuthouse, and the other two tormenting you to no end for nearly a decade."

"Fair point," Davina's jaw ticked, but to her credit she didn't lower her gaze. "They were my sisters though, so if you could be less caviller about this that would be great."

"When did you see me taking this lightly?" He snapped. "We have three dead witches, a murderous vampire roaming the grounds, and our parents ashes are missing. I'm half-convinced you lot," he motioned to the dead, "opened that tomb, stole the ashes and resurrected two people who should have stayed buried."

"Why the hell would we have done that? What could we possibly gain from resurrecting your parents?"

"Power," Rebekah cut in. "Mother wants us dead. Father wants us dead. Both nearly succeeded at one point. If they were alive odds are war would break out that would either end with them dead, or all vampires dead. Without vampires the witches could take over the French Quarter."

"They could take over the entire world," Kol shook his head.

"Are you both crazy?" Davina closed her eyes when they both flashed her manic grins. "I walked into that one," she muttered. "If the vampires go, nature will be in turmoil; it has had a millennium to adjust."

"Finally a witch that gets it," Kol sighed. "Now the question remains: who the bloody hell did this?"

"Eve?" Rebekah murmured.

"Did you just accuse my daughter of this?" He frowned. Eve was not bloodthirsty; she had never even killed. Until her last birthday she had been on a strict blood bag only diet. Most of the time he thought she preferred it to snatch-eat-erase; with blood bags she could be picky about blood types.

"No, Kol," Rebekah pointed to the window. "Eve."

He turned slowly and caught a glimpse of his child through the window. All of the colour seemed to have been leeched from her cheeks.

"Can you handle cleanup?" He didn't wait before leaving the women alone.

He moved outside until he could see her clearly, pacing on shaking legs in front of a stone crypt.

"Sweetheart?" He reached for her arm.

Eve felt fingers graze her elbow and nearly jumped out of her skin, whirling around and pressing her spine to the stone wall.

"Eve," Kol held out his hands, "Evie?"

"D-daddy?" She relaxed, tone hardening slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Did you forget who the adult was in this conversation?" He chuckled. "What are you doing here? You're less of a morning person than your mother. Are you alright?"

"Mom's always up early," Eve smiled.

"And she's never happy about it until she's consumed three cups of coffee," he rolled his eyes. "Don't deflect, Eve. What are you doing in the cemetery?"

"Early morning jog?" She shrugged with a hopeful smile.

"In high heels?" His eyes flickered to her hand.

"I took them off," Eve looked down. She used the task of putting on her shoes to avoid his eyes.

"Eve," he lifted her chin. "You inherited many things from me, but you have your mother's eyes and her abysmal ability to tell a lie."

"I'm not lying," her voice came out small. "I did take off my shoes to jog."

"And you're not telling me everything," his brows rose. "I think I'm being very generous in bypassing how you snuck out of the compound. What's wrong? You're shaking like a leaf. And where's your usual partner in crime?"

"I'm right here," Hope stepped out of the tomb. She stood on the top of the steps and still found herself shorter than her uncle.

"Hello, bunny," Kol's eyes flickered over her rumpled shirt and untied shoes. "You're looking particularly rumpled this morning. I assume you had the early morning jog."

"It was more like a lope," she swallowed, pressing her lips together.

"Perhaps you can tell me why my little fox is shaking in her boots."

"How should I know?" Hope shrugged one shoulder. "I was a wolf all night long."

"Don't pull that with me, Hope Andrea Mikaelson," Kol's eyes narrowed. "Hybrids possess awareness when they turn, and you, my dear are a tribrid. Wolf, or not, you knew exactly what was happening."

The girls lowered their eyes.

"You two can talk, or you can spend the next three weeks cleaning the school from top to bottom without magic," he glanced between them.

"Daddy!"

"Do you want to add the compound to the list? Nik's studio would keep you busy for days."

Hope exchanged a pleading look with Eve who shook her head.

"Some creep attacked her," she straightened her spine.

"Hope!"

"We're you really going to hide that?" She rolled her eyes.

"Someone hurt you?" Red flooded Kol's vision. "Who was it?"

"It doesn't matter," she pushed her hair behind her ear. "I handled it."

"You handled it?" His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "Hope? How exactly did she handle it?"

"I… I don't know," she pursed her lips when he turned his gaze. "I don't know," she insisted. "It's not like I could hear; every voice sounds like a low rumble when I change."

"I compelled him," Eve reached into her pocket. "I made him give me his daylight ring; then he ran off. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you snuck out in the dead of night," he took the ring from her hand. "The big deal is that a man attacked you. The big deal is that this man is probably the same one that killed three witches."

"Actually it was a woman that attacked me," Davina poked her head out.

"So he has a cohort," Kol waved dismissively. "The big deal, Eve, is that my baby girl is scared."

"I'm not scared," she crossed her arms. "I kept it together, and now he can't touch me ever again; plus he's stuck in the shadows."

"While I'm proud that you remained calm, that is not the…" Kol trailed off. As he had been starting his rant he had waved his hand and caught sight of the square lapis lazuli framed on either side by glistening pearls. "This was his ring?"

"Yeah," Eve nodded. The further away from the incident she got the better she felt; she just had to remind herself that she was a badass Original hybrid and he was a jerk. "Why?"

"Because," Kol stared at the cold gold in his hand, "this ring belongs to a dead man."

* * *

She dragged a silver candlestick along the iron gates, giggling softly at the resounding sound that echoed under the city. Her laughter cut off when she entered the round room.

"You, my friend, are an idiot," she pointed to him with the silver.

"You said the girl was the key to vengeance," he stood, dusting the dirt from his trousers. "You said get her away."

"You could have tried a subtler approach," Ariadne huffed. "Now she knows your face, and if she tells daddy dearest what she knows it's only a matter of time before she knows mine as well."

"You are the one that said we have a limited amount of time!" He pointed.

"You should already know that Stavros," she walked her fingers along the length of his arm as she circled around him, standing on tiptoe to breathe along his neck. "Can't you feel it? That certainty in your bones… the little voice that says this is temporary."

"Don't play your games with me, witch," he snapped. In one move he had her pinned to the wall by her throat.

"I'm not a witch anymore," her fingers flattened over his sternum. "Kol Mikaelson saw to that."

"From what I hear you begged him for it," he looked her up and down.

"I was young," she sneered at her own memory. "Young and in love, and I made a few foolish choices."

"Haven't we all?"

Ariadne and Stavros turned to watch the woman that had somehow snuck up on them. A black ribbon pulled her golden ringlets from her round face, exposing the calculating expression fully.

"You are both fools if you truly believe you can best Kol Mikaelson alone," her skirt swirled around her ankles.

"Are we meant to know who you are?" Stavros's eyes flickered to her Edwardian collar.

"I am your newest friend," she clasped her hands loosely in front of her body. "I am the witch who will help you gain your vengeance against the Originals."

"In my experience trusting a witch is never a good idea," he frowned.

"I could take offence to that," Ariadne scoffed.

"You're no longer a witch, and I for one am prepared to do this without witchy interference."

"Then you will fail," she tilted her head, surveying the vampires.

"It's one vampire," he scoffed. "Personally I'm willing to let what transpired between Kol Mikaelson rest…"

"Only because you don't want another beating," Ariadne blinked up at him innocently.

"Shut up," he growled. "My main grievance is with his lover."

"What a coincidence," she smiled, holding out her hands, "so is mine. What wrong did Elena Gilbert commit against you?"

"She killed me," rage flashed in his eyes, "completely unprovoked."

"I wouldn't say completely unprovoked," Ariadne gave a pointed look to the hand still on her collarbone. "You have a habit of rubbing women the wrong way."

"No one has ever complained."

"Eve Mikaelson did." Ariadne's smile was so sweet it would have given him cavities. She turned her attention to the witch. "Why should I trust you? Why should I let you live rather than draining the life out of you?"

"Are you foolish enough to think you are the only woman he has manipulated over the years?" She stepped towards the pair. "I want to make him… them… suffer, but neither of us can do it without each other. I lack the physical strength to take either of them on, and you two lack the magic."

"How is magic meant to help us?"

"The answer to that is quite simple." She swept into the room. "He is no longer like his siblings; I witnessed his power myself. Kol Mikaelson is like that little trollop… like the child that so easily bested you. None of them may be harmed by conventional methods, but luckily for you I know of some unconventional methods and more than one witch who wants to see him suffer. The blood moon has gifted us with many allies, and brought the Mikaelsons nothing by enemies. If you can lure the daughter away… trick her into retrieving what I need… then I can create a weapon that will bring misery into their household."

Stavros exchanged a look with Ariadne. She broke the look first and focused on the witch.

"We shall need help to get the girl," she tilted her head, "since my cohort blew it. "Luckily for you I know someone perfect for the job. He's an absolute charmer, but I'll need your help to locate him since he went missing centuries ago."

"You believe this man will help?"

"I believe he'll do anything for a daylight ring that you'll gladly provide," her mouth curved upwards. "Do we have a deal? You find him. He gets the girl. She gets what you need. We get our revenge."

"Can he do this in a matter of days?"

"Depends how fast you find him." She unhooked a bracelet from her wrist. "This belonged to him in the sixteenth century."

"Is this one of your former lovers?" Stavros snorted.

"Of course not," she rolled her eyes.

"Then why did he give you a bracelet?"

"Technically he didn't," Ariadne giggled. "I took it from him. It was necklace at the time and completed my newest ensemble. So what do we call you?" She watched the witch.

A pale hand extended. Ariadne dropped the bracelet and met the witch's eyes.

"Mary-Alice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see it's not just enemies that have returned from the dead. :D There are a few more surprises in store for our favorite dysfunctional family.


	3. Chapter 3

He lounged in his chair, allowing it to turn from side-to-side as he surveyed the boy who that found his way into the office. His height bordered on the edge of lanky. As he sat his long fingers fidgeted, shoving shoulder length brown hair out of dark eyes. The aristocratic features held an air of familiarity, but he couldn't quite place the boy's face.

As he watched the boy's hands dropped, tapping over his thighs.

"Where exactly did you come from?" Alaric tilted his head, taking pity on the boy.

"I… uh…" he rubbed his hands over his pants, "I doubt you would believe me."

"You have walked into a school for the supernatural of which I am the headmaster," he straightened up, tapping the desk with his pen. "I have been witness to the impossible for nearly twenty years, and that was before my daughters were magically implanted in their mother. There is very little I wouldn't believe. Now why don't you tell me where you came from? It's not every day that we do a headcount of students and come up with an extra body."

"Would you believe that I was dead yesterday, Dr. Saltzman?" He met the man's eyes. "Or is that stretching your tolerance too far?"

"This is New Orleans," Alaric's eyebrows rose, "people have a tendency to not stay dead in this city. I suppose that means you're a witch, then?"

"How did you…?"

"Dead yesterday, and alive today?" He tilted his head. "Alive today after a blood moon rose over the city."

"For those who know how to use it the blood moon is a powerful celestial event," he lowered his eyes. "I seized the opportunity to return to the land of the living, but time has passed and I… I find I no longer know this world."

"Judging by your clothes you've been dead a long time," Alaric joined his fingers together, glancing at the wool trousers. There was something the boy was hiding, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"Are you going to make me leave?" He inhaled sharply, pushing his hair behind his ear.

"We're not in the business of turning away children in need," Alaric opened his desk drawer and pulled out a couple of forms, "besides, if I don't let you stay where are you going to go?" He smiled gently and clicked open his pen. "Let's start with your name."

* * *

A few strands of hair caught on her lip gloss as she tilted her head to balance the phone between her shoulder and ear; her fingers itched to brush it aside, but her grip on the awkward pile in hand meant the hair was doomed to tickle her skin.

"So somebody broke into the crypt?" She hoisted her supplies higher, muttering under her breath: "I swear, one of these years I'm going to take advantage of winter break."

 _"You say that every year, darling,"_ Kol lowered the air conditioner.

"If you can remember that you can remember to remind me of it," she rolled her eyes. "And yes, I know you did. Do you think the break in had anything to do with the elemental typhoon last night?"

"I think there's a chance it wasn't a break in."

"What do you mean?" Elena pushed the mansion door open with her hip, pausing in the entry.

"Why don't I meet you for brunch after your first class and I'll explain."

"Alright, I love you."

"I love you."

She heard the clicks, signifying the end of call, and wiggled her shoulder until the phone settled on the top grimoire.

She swayed, trying to realign her burden.

"Do you require assistance, ma'am?"

"Oh please don't call me ma'am," Elena grimaced, "it makes me feel old."

"Sorry," the boy cleared his throat.

"Aren't you over a century old?"

"Erik Mikaelson," she fixed her son with a mock glare, "just because you're back at boarding school doesn't mean I won't ground you. Who's your new friend?"

"This is Henry," Erik gestured to the boy with shoulder length hair, "he's new. Henry, this is my mom, she teaches spell science and traveller magic."

"And Kemiya to the upper years," Elena smiled. She looked Henry up and down as her eyes drew together. "I didn't know we were expecting any new students. It's nice to meet you, Henry, and thank you," she shook her head, nodding down, "but I've got this; I'll let you get back to your tour."

"See you in class, mom."

Elena nodded once and then took off down the hall for the spell labs. She picked the pace when she heard a loud bang, hastening towards the plume of violet smoke..

* * *

Stefan surveyed the damage again, getting one final look at his car's ruined window.

"Do you two wanna be left alone?" Lexi placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. It was difficult to make the gesture reach her eyes. He had an unhealthy obsession with the Porsche; she suspected he was more upset about the car than the 'Damon-kabob'.

"She'll be good as new by the time we get there," Damon sighed, leaning his hip against the new car Stefan had insisted on. "And if we wanna get there by nightfall we've gotta go."

"Are windows like that even legal?" Lexi moved, pressing her palm to the dark glass.

"Depends on the state," he crossed his arms. His voice took on a sing song tone. "If luck is on my side then they won't work and you'll be a pile of ash by the freeway."

"Damon!"

"Nothing against you, babe," he slid into the car.

"If feels like it." She opened the back door and made herself comfortable, pushing some heavy blankets aside; if necessary they would shield her from the sun. She waited for Stefan to get in before leaning over the centre console, turning the back of her head on Damon. "Where exactly are we going because this doesn't feel permanent, and I really don't want to spend my limited time in a confined space with the dick that killed me."

"It wasn't personal," he grumbled, turning over the ignition.

"Can it, Damon!" She drove her elbow back, cracking a rib.

"I don't want you spending what little time you have in the dark," Stefan grinned, nudging her with his shoulder. "You are going to feel the sun on your face again, and if I have my way," he squeezed her hand, "this will be permanent."

"You got some powerful witch up your sleeve?" She snickered.

"I got a couple who owe me a pretty big favour," his smile threatened to split his face, "Damon doesn't want to see them."

"He turned my bones to dust last time."

"I love him already," Lexi smirked.

"Kol will leave you alone as long as you don't flirt with or antagonize either of them."

* * *

Erik led the way over the yard, pointing to each place as he explained the purpose of them. So far they had visited the stables, greenhouses, and dorms and were now on the final leg of the outdoor tour.

"This is the field," he followed the edge, "we play all sorts of sports, but the school favourite is Wickery. It was a joint project between my mom and aunt Caroline, and it's the closest you're ever gonna get to real life Quidditch."

"Quidditch?" Henry frowned, tasting the unfamiliar word on his tongue.

"Yeah, you know," he prompted, "the famous game from Harry Potter? What rock have you been living under?"

"One that kept me ignorant of popular culture," he drawled, rolling his eyes.

The gesture was achingly familiar.

"I didn't mean anything by it," he held out his hands. "I tend to speak before thinking sometimes, Mom says I get it from Dad."

"I have a couple of brothers like that," Henry chuckled.

"You have brothers?" He started walking backwards, leading the way to the mansion.

"I have four brothers, and two sisters."

"Woah," his jaw dropped. "That's gotta be chaotic. I've got one sister and three cousins, and Christmas is crazy."

"A lot of them are older, so it wasn't that bad, but I haven't seen any of them in a long time." He smirked, and when he spoke again it was in a tone Erik knew and didn't. "I doubt they even remember what I look like."

"Oh," he frowned. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he waved a hand. "It wasn't anyone's fault. Sometimes things happen and you end up at a school you never thought you'd be at. How'd the school get here anyway?"

"Josie tells this story better," he warned, "but I'll give it a try." He turned around when Henry nodded and laid his hand on the deck.

"Long ago the mansion belonged to the old governor before my family took possession of it. It sat untouched for a long time until Eve and Hope were ready to start school.

"Mom wanted them to have a normal experience with other kids, but everyone agreed normal school was out of the question. And since nobody wanted them to stifle who they were Mom and Dad teamed up with my aunts and uncles and the only educator they actually knew. Within a year they opened the Mikaelson Boarding school.

"It grows every year, and my family takes turns funding. This year it's Uncle Elijah."

"That was pretty good."

"Jo still tells it better," he shrugged. "Come on, I'll show you the classrooms."

* * *

"Do you think my dad's mad?" Eve stared at her petri dish, mesmerized by a swirling path her stir stick created through the thick gel.

"No way," Hope tilted her own dish. scrutinizing the contents. "Uncle Kol yells when he's mad."

"He didn't yell when we caused that explosion and knocked a gaping hole in the kitchen wall," she chewed her bottom lip. "Or that time I switched out spell ingredients without telling him and the table melted." She hadn't known wood could react like that. "I don't think my dad's ever yelled at me – except for that time when I was crossing the street and a car came out of nowhere, but that was more a yelling at the driver thing."

"I don't think he's mad."

"He confined us to the school; we're effectively grounded."

"Well, you are," she smirked. Her smile faltered when her phone buzzed. "And now I am too."

"Your dad?" She sat down her dish.

"And mom."

"So he's mad," Eve snatched up a scalpel. "Why else would our grounding have no end in sight?"

"Maybe..." Hope lowered her voice to a whisper. "He wanted us safe. The school has wards, and that ring... that ring shook him up."

Hope unbuttoned her sleeve, rolling up her sweater and the white shirt to expose her wrist.

"And I know you don't want to admit it, but you're happy to be back here because what happened shook you."

"Alright everybody," Elena clapped her hands for their attention, "pick up your scalpels and turn to your lab partner. Draw a shallow cut over their wrist then administer your gel; if you've done your job right then the wound will heal."

Hope hissed along with half the class when the blade was drawn over her skin.

"Do you think he told mom?" Eve dropped her scalpel and caught a dab of the gel, carefully wiping it over the cut.

"I think we'll know when he does." The gel cooled and her skin knit together underneath. "Confining us to school feels like half a punishment. Aunt Elena will have something more to add."

"What precisely will I be adding to Hope?"

The girls gasped, spinning on their stools to find Elena's sparkling eyes watching them.

"Nothing," Eve's eyelids fluttered.

"You inherited your deceitful skills from me, Eve Freya Mikaelson," she tilted her head. "I assume your father will have a fair bit to add to your 'nothing'."

Eve and Hope exchanged a look, knowing from experience that it was better to come clean; typically it knocked a week off the overall punishment.

"We snuck out last night," she held her hands in her lap.

"I was restless..."

"And we knew Lafayette would be empty."

"Mom?"

"Are we in trouble?"

Elena stared at both of them, eyes flickering back and forth.

"Somebody could have been hurt."

Hope dropped her eyes.

"If you feel like that you should tell us; we can find a place for you to run where nobody will see. Don't listen to your cousin all the time; her impulsivity comes from her dad." Elena waited for them to nod and then held out her hands. "Cell phones."

"That's it?" Eve frowned, placing her phone in her hand.

"Of course not," Elena smirked as the girls spun back around. She wrapped her arms around their shoulders and leaned forward to place her head between them. "You two are gonna come back here every day this week after dinner..."

"Mom, no; please?" Eve's eyes widened. Her horror was reflected in Hope's gaze.

"And you're going to clean and reorganize the spell science cupboard."

"B-b-but..." Hope thought about the decade of disorder and various ingredients. "We came clean."

"That's why I'm not making you do the attic." Elena kissed their temples, humming softly. "I'm glad you're safe."

They shuddered as she left the table.

"Do you... uh..." Josie tiptoed up to their table. "still need a volunteer?" She held out a clean scalpel to Hope.

* * *

The Tudor mansion sprawled out over lush green, popping out of the trees as if from nowhere. She stared at the towering structure and crossed her arms.

"Your friend seems to have done well for himself."

"I don't know about that," Ariadne smirked. "He was buried alive in the sixteenth century."

Mary-Alice stiffened, whirling around to glare. Her fingers tugged at her sleeves, covering her exposed wrists.

"You said he disappeared."

"He did," Ariadne skipped up the driveway and ran her finger over the hood of a blue Camaro. "He disappeared when he was desiccated and buried alive. Is he inside or on the property? Where do we start digging?"

"I gave you a location," she pulled the map from her pocket, hating the way the trousers clung.

"Stop fidgeting? You look ridiculous." She pulled out a small black box and surveyed the map, punching a few buttons.

"I feel like a whore in these clothes," she fingered the denim. "Why couldn't I wear my own?"

"Because that monstrosity made you stick out like a sore thumb."

"But why must women in this century dress like prostitutes?" She sneered at Ariadne's blouse, revealing her collarbone and a hint of cleavage.

"Times are changing," she crumpled the map. "Personally I find the lack of a corset freeing, and the twenty-first century has many marvels."

She started toward the house, following a blinking arrow on the black box's screen.

* * *

"Let me see if I've got this straight?" Lizzie passed off a glowing ball of swirling energy to her twin, "you thought sneaking out on a full moon. after an earthquake was a good idea?"

"Nobody was gonna be out there." The ball grew, taking on a red tint.

"Keep the energy positive guys," MG frowned at the magic. "The book says it should stay blue."

"Someone could have been hurt," Hope took the ball. The size and colour fluctuated as it passed between her hands. "I could have hurt someone."

"You didn't," Eve groaned. The ball flared, resembling a supernova where it floated between her spread palms. "Don't doubt your control because you're bloody awesome. Mom just worries. Dad didn't say anything."

"Uncle Kol got distracted by how upset you were..."

"Uh... guys..." MG's voice wavered.

The spell fluctuated, further losing it's structural integrity.

" ... and that creepy guy who attacked you..."

"I had it handled!" Eve's heart hammered. Heat licked her fingers as anxiety fed the spell.

"That's why you spent an hour shaking and clinging to a werewolf," Hope drawled. "Uncle Kol didn't see it, but he could see that you were scared."

"I wasn't scared," her voice cracked.

"You were," Hope shoved her fingers through her hair. "That's the onl..."

The spell released, knocking four young witches flat. They groaned, sitting up on elbows.

"I really thought I'd be the one to screw that up," Lizzie grumbled, flipping blonde hair from her face.

"Is everyone okay?" Josie got to her knees and cast her eyes around the yard. "MG?"

"I'm good," his voice called out from a flower bed.

Eve surveyed the damage she could see - flattened grass, broken branches and a toppled fountain. She flopped back, covering her face with her hands.

"I think I'm a little shaken," she swallowed, listening to her heart race.

Hope shuffled closer and wrapped her arm around Eve's middle.

"I know. I'm sorry."

Eve closed her eyes, lowering her hands to her belly. She could see the way he had looked at her - feel the way he had touched her.

"He looked at me like I was some kind of prize, and not in a good way."

"There's a good way?" Josie stretched out on her other side.

"Yeah," Eve sighed. "Like how my parents look at each other sometimes, or how Uncle Nik looks at your mom."

"Like they can't believe they got so lucky,'' MG sat above their joined heads.

"I want someone to look at me like that," Lizzie sighed, stretching out next to Josie.

"Not the way this guy was," Eve shuddered. "It was like..."

"Like he wanted to consume you," Hope finished. "Nobody's gonna hurt you, Evie."

"And anyone who tries has to go through all of us," Lizzie swore.

"We got your back, E," MG squeezed her shoulder.

"Thanks," she smiled, sniffing. "So," she smirked, "does that mean you're all gonna help us with the storage cupboard."

"Evie, we love you," Josie kissed her cheek, "but no."

* * *

"Okay," Erik recapped, counting off on his fingers. "The dining hall, administration and library are on the ground floor. Second floor has your standard normal classes, and supernatural courses are divided between there and the top floor. There are a couple of hidden rooms Uncle Nik turned into study spaces. Do you want to see my favourite?"

* * *

Elena flipped through lab book after lab book, rapidly checking off correct answers and making short notes in the margins. Everyone passed the lab portion of their pop quiz, but the theory required a little work.

Two weeks off for holidays and everyone seemed to have forgotten a semester's worth of teaching. She anticipated intense study sessions in preparation for exams.

January promised strung out teenagers.

Even Eve and Hope's reports lacked coherent thought.

She flipped over her phone, reading the incoming message.

Kol: Did you forget about me?

She smirked, tapping out a quick response as she stood and reached for her purse.

Elena: I'm not sure. Remind me who this is again.

Kol: I think you know.

Elena: oh?

Kol: Dashingly handsome. Exceedingly debonair...

Elena: is this the insanely conceited guy that sleeps next to me every night?

Kol: conceited?

Elena grinned, taking off at a run, slowing when she reached the alley and sauntering to the cafe.

"Conceited?" He cocked an eyebrow, lifting his chin for her kiss.

"You spent more time getting ready for the New year's party than I did," she slipped into the seat across from him, "and Bekah dragged _me_ off for manicures."

Her eyes narrowed when he didn't immediately quip back with how she agreed that he was ridiculously good looking.

"What's wrong? Is it the crypt?"

"No," he reached into his jacket pocket. "I can handle my parents possibly being alive on the streets of New Orleans," he ignored her shocked expression. "I've accepted their hatred, and mother's inability to stay dead. This is what worries me."

A ring wobbled on the table.

"A daylight amulet?" She picked it up. "Why do I recognize it?"

"Eve took it off a vampire who attacked her this morning." He covered her hand before she could interrupt. "There is a very descent chance the dead are rising. And a man who hates us both targeted our child because that ring belonged to Stavros."

She felt her head shake, impossibility was the denial on her tongue, but she knew her husband. He would see her impossible and raise with their children. Loopholes existed in nature, exploited at every opportunity by anyone with the power; some would have done it just to prove they could.

Sad to say, not every witch respected the natural world they were sworn to protect.

Their waitress walked up, thrusting her hips forward as she stopped at the table and batted her eyes.

"What can I get'cha, suga?" She flashed a bright grin at Kol.

He knew Elena was lost in thought when she made no comment on the girl's obvious flirtation. He was in no mood to torment her, or deal with Anna's inconsiderate nature.

"I'll have the eggs Benedict and coffee," he examined the furrow between her brows and decided on her 'thinking food'. "Stuffed french toast and hot chocolate for my wife." He emphasized the last word, giving Anna a pointed look.

She clicked her pen closed and whirled toward the kitchen.

"How?" Elena closed her hand around the ring.

"After eighteen years I know you're favourite foods," he chuckled.

"Kol," she sighed.

"Bad - if accurate - attempt at easing your nerves," he rubbed her sensitive wrist, sobering fast. "Something happened during the blood moon, and I... I think the earthquake and... everything... may have been nature's way of fighting back."

"Against the dead rising?" A chill swathed over her jiggling leg. "Did you see Stavros?" Warm metal cut into her palm.

"No, darling."

"Then maybe you're wrong," she rubbed her lips together. "Maybe it was the Harvest girls screwing up a spell, or arguing over something trivial, and," she raised a brow when she saw the flash of emotion in his eyes, "why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm so sorry, love." He shook his head. "I didn't want to tell you over the phone, but the Harvest Girls are dead. Only Davina survived."

Sorrow, she decided; it was sorrow in his gaze. Or perhaps she was seeing a reflection of her eyes in his.

"What happened?"

"A vampire."

"I want him found," she spat. Pure, unadulterated rage raced through her veins.

"While I share your sentiment it wasn't him," he ran his thumb over her knuckles. "Davina said it was a woman, and that she was talking nonsense about fire and magic; she never saw her face."

"Then I want both of them found." Two spots of colour appeared high on her cheeks.

"I already tried to find Stavros," he let go of her hand, leaning back as their food arrived. "There's no sign of him."

"Then maybe you are wrong." Elena picked up her mug and took a sip of rich hot chocolate. A dollop of whipped cream stuck to her nose.

"Or a witch is helping him," he swiped his thumb over her nose and sucked the whipped cream off. "Personally I'm hoping I'm wrong, since being right opens a door I'd rather not look through. Do you know how many people I've pissed off in the past millennia?"

"No idea," she shook her head. Her fork stabbed her French toast. Fruit oozed out.

"Too many to count," he reached for his coffee.

"Right or wrong," she lifted her fork, "I want that woman put down and that man found so I can tear out his internal organs."

Her eyes narrowed when he smirked.

"What?" She mumbled around a mouthful of French toast.

He grinned, nudging her foot under the table. "I love you."

* * *

"I assume he's looked better," Mary Alice grimaced. She leaned over the open lid of the pine box and traced the vampire's desiccated remains with the tip of her finger.

"He'll look much better in a minute," Ariadne grinned. Madness gleamed in her eyes.

Mary Alice's finger twitched, raising up in warning.

"Relax honey," she twirled around the box, gracefully pirouetting towards her dropped bag. "I brought some blood. Can't have him accidentally killing you now, can I? Who would finish the ring?"

She moved backwards, standing against the rough wall with a stiff spine.

Ariadne opened the blood bag and pressed the tube against his lips, squeezing a few drops into his dry mouth. Slowly the bag emptied and colour returned to his sallow cheeks.

His brow crinkled and he opened his eyes, blearily focusing on her grinning face.

"Ariadne?" He croaked, reaching for the edge of his coffin.

"Hello, darling," she tossed the empty blood bag over her shoulder. "Did you miss me?"

"You…" he broke off in a fit of coughs, lurching upright.

"Let me finish that thought for you," she reached for a second bag of blood, opening it for him, "ravishing creature."

He tore into the bag of blood, sucking it down fast. A healthy glow returned to his skin. "I was actually going to call you a bitch."

"That's no way to talk to the girl getting you a daylight ring," she pouted. Her eyes sparkled.

"You," he fought down a sardonic laugh as he climbed to his feet, "want to grant me a daylight ring?"

"I even brought a witch," Ariadne perched on the edge of his coffin. "Mary Alice spelled the talisman for you." As she spoke she toyed with her own amulet.

Mary Alice pulled a silver ring from her pocket. The large blue stone glinted in the dim light, reflecting in his wide eyes.

"You never do anything without expecting something in return," he jumped out of the coffin, eager to be rid of it. "What do you want?"

"It's quite simple," Mary Alice spun the ring around her finger.

"All you have to do is seduce a pretty little thing and get her to show you mommy dearest's grimoire," she picked at a splinter in the wood.

"Get the girl to take out a thin silver dagger her mother sealed away," Mary Alice tilted her head, "and bring it to me."

"And you expect me to do all of this under the cover of night?" He turned his head, eyeing them both.

"Don't be silly," Mary Alice tossed him the ring. "You'll use that."

"What's to stop me taking this and running?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"The spell is temporary," she resisted the urge to tug at her clothes. "I'll make it permanent when you deliver your end; you have a week to get the doppelgänger's dagger."

"One week?"

"Don't act so scandalized," Ariadne waved one hand. "You always were a charmer and she is a naive girl. It'll be a piece of cake. Now what do you say to me?" She sang, leaning forwards.

"Thank you?" He slipped the ring onto his finger.

"You…" Ariadne prompted, twirling a splinter between her fingers.

"Thank you Ariadne," he rolled his eyes, "you ravishing creature."

"Much better."

* * *

Hope towelled the worst of the water from her hair and dropped to sit cross legged on her bed, bouncing on the springs. She could still remember the first time she had slept at the school; it had taken a fair amount of convincing since someone always traveled from the compound to the campus every morning.

"Please don't start jumping on the bed," Eve flipped over a page and laid her hand on a sheet of paper.

"Do you remember when we were little," Hope waved her hand, levitating her towel to its hook, "the first night we stayed in this room?"

"How can I forget?" She snickered, tapping the page. "You knocked me off the bed with a pillow. That was the first time I ever broke a bone."

"You insta-healed," she leaned back on her bed. "And what's the fun of jumping up and down on the bed if you don't whack each other around?"

"No fun at all."

"Our parents were so mad," Hope hugged a pillow to her stomach and reached for her brush.

"I remember mom crying," Eve tilted head, seeing the scene as if it were happening. Her arm had healed at the wrong angle. "I think re-breaking it hurt her and dad more than it hurt me. Do you know that's the only time I ever saw my dad cry?"

"Uncle Kol cried?" Hope winced and worked the brush through a series of knots.

"Yeah," she pursed her lips. "Why are we talking about our first night here?"

"Because you're flipping through that book."

"It calms me," Eve fingered another page. With each new page she catalogued the contents, feeling the various forms of energy rise up through her arm.

"You might be the only person alive to find dark objects calming," she rolled her eyes.

"They're not calming, Hope," Eve flipped another page, tracing an eight pointed star with her fingertip. "They're anxiety inducing, but knowing that the dark magic is stuck where nobody can ever use it is calming." She flipped the page again. "And sometimes the light objects are fun to take out and handle."

"Is it working at least?" Hope tossed her brush aside. "Is your stolen property succeeding in calming you?"

"No, and neither did your nostalgia trip," she smirked.

"I see," she hummed, "I guess I'll just have to resort to drastic measures."

"Dr…" Eve broke off in a shriek, throwing her hands up as the pillow smacked her in the face. She sputtered, twisting her neck around to stare at her cousin. A beat of silence passed before a wicked twinkle entered her eyes. "Are you serious right now?"

Hope smirked, flashing white teeth.

"Oh…" Eve's tongue poked out as she grinned, reaching for one of her pillows. "It's on."

* * *

"Dammit, dammit, dammit," Elena kicked the table, sending candles skittering across the floor.

"What about the Tibetan bowl?" Kol stomped on the edge of a curtain, smothering the flames before they could overtake the fabric.

"Two Original hybrids," she stared out the window, watching the moon rise up, "and an ancient bowl is going to help?"

"Can't hurt," he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What witch has enough power to block both of us together?" She laid her head back on his chest.

"A coven of them," he closed his eyes, lowering his nose to her neck.

"Or maybe," Klaus' voice drew their attention from the window, "you can't track the dead."

"Now you're on board with the dead theory?" Elena groaned, slumping in her husband's hold. "I thought you were more sceptical than that. Your parents can't exactly be considered the norm."

"She has a point, Nik," he sighed. "I didn't actually see anyone dead, so the theory is unconfirmed."

"Not anymore," Klaus nodded his chin back towards the hall. "Confirmation has come to us."

"What?" He lifted an eyebrow, adjusting his hold on her as she shifted.

"Elena has a visitor."

The couple exchanged a look loaded with wary confusion before following Klaus out of the study.

"Who is it?" She slotted her fingers between Kol's and squeezed, but Klaus didn't get a chance to answer before they entered the living room. Her eyes snapped to the man by the fireplace and narrowed. "How does Stefan confirm anything?"

"You wanted something confirmed?" Stefan straightened up.

"Stefan is not the confirmation, right ripper?" Klaus smirked, dimples flashing. He circled around a leather couch, nodding to the person sitting there.

The woman placed one hand on the arm and rose, spinning around to face them. A bright smile lit up her round face as she squealed and raced to wrap Elena in a tight hug.

Her hands came up on instinct, wrapping around her back even as her spine stiffened.

"Lexi?" She breathed, dazed as the vampire let her go.

"Yeah," she nodded fast, "I'm sorry. I know we were never _that_ close."

"It's not that." She shook her head.

"It's what your presence implies, love," Kol placed a hand on the small of Elena's back, rubbing circles over her spine.

"I'm not entirely sure what that means," Lexi took a step back. She tilted her head, looking him up and down slowly. "Are you the vampire that turned Damon's bones to dust?"

"I suppose I did do that," his jaw clicked. "He had it coming."

"No defence needed," Lexi laughed, holding her hands palms out. "Damon always deserves an ass-kicking. And after what I heard you did, I think I might love you."

Elena stepped into his side and placed a hand on his chest. She smiled, voice filled with laughter and a slight edge.

"Move on fast, sweetie. He's taken."

"By a very jealous woman," Kol tipped his chin down and gave her hand a pointed look. "What are you doing here Lexi? Aside from resurrecting, I mean."

"Stefan got it in his head that you two could make her a daylight ring."

Kol whipped his head around, glaring daggers at the man as he stepped into the living room through an opposite door.

"You!" He snarled.

Elena's possessive hand turned into a restraining one, halting her husband's sudden march.

Elena strained against Kol while Damon took a hurried step backwards.

The retreat stopped when Damon dropped to his knees and gripped his head. He grunted. Blood vessels burst in his eyes.

"Kol!" Elena spun in front of him, cutting off his sight line. Behind her Damon's pained grunts cut off. "What have I said about hurting my friends unprovoked?"

"He draws breath in my presence," his glared burned over the top of her head. He had never forgiven Damon for his attempt to steal Elena away, or his implication that their unborn daughter was something to fix. "That's provocation enough."

"Are you gonna beat the shit out of him?" Lexi stepped aside with a giant grin, perching on the sofa's arm. "Maybe finish what I started earlier?"

"Lexi!" Elena scolded. "Why are you provoking him?"

"I wanna see Damon get pummelled," she shrugged. "He did kill me."

"His existence is provocation enough." Elena's head snapped around to Klaus' snickers.

"I've had that thought," Stefan covered his laugh by lowering his eyes and clearing his throat.

"You two are not helping," she groaned.

"What the hell did I do to tick you off?" Damon stopped in his tracks. Righteous indignation squared his shoulders.

Elena felt a strong desire to sob her frustration.

"Weren't you listening mate?" Kol placed his hands on Elena's shoulders, lifting her off her feet and setting her at his side. "You're still breathing."

"Breathing?" Damon scoffed. He threw up his hands, taking a foolish step forward. "I haven't done anything to you."

"You haven't done anything?" Kol's voice rose to a mocking falsetto. Only Elena's hand on his elbow held him back. "You were going to help my mother kill every vampire on earth," fire flashed in his eyes.

"To be fair," Stefan gripped his brother's jacket, holding him back, "I did that too."

"You came around and helped," Kol snapped. "He upset my wife time and time again, tried to steal her away and made a rather daring implication about my daughter. Not to mention nearly burning my brother alive." He observed Damon critically and sneered. "I think I'll feed you your own liver."

"I'd like to see you try," Damon smirked. "Didn't you hit the reset button when Elena turned you?"

"Do you have a death wish?" Stefan sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, sensing a tension headache coming on.

"I can take him," he tried to break Stefan's hold. "That was all circumstantial."

"What about what you did to Caroline?" Stefan muttered, but failed to keep his voice low enough.

"What the bloody hell did he do to Caroline?" Klaus' eyes flashed gold.

 _Shit,_ Stefan flinched.

Elena shut her eyes, pressing her lips into a thin line.

Klaus repeated his question, louder as he took a menacing step. Black veins spidered across his cheekbones.

"Only Damon and Caroline know exactly what happened." Stefan cleared his throat, hoping to save Damon Klaus' wrath. He might have held his own against Kol for a few minutes, but Klaus would tear Damon apart and no amount of Elena's pleading would stop him; Caroline might have been able to do it, but he doubted she would have even if she were present.

With any luck he would have Damon far, far away before Klaus got Caroline to talk.

"I just had a little fun with her while she was human," Damon shrugged. He glanced at Klaus, but the majority of his attention was stuck on Kol.

"Fun?" Klaus growled. His foot came down hard, cracking the floorboard as he stepped forward.

Damon seemed to sense the sudden shift and pivoted, keeping both brothers in his sight line. He bent his knees and readied to fight back, but he never got the chance.

His saving grace appeared in a flurry of white gold hair and grey cashmere.

Rebekah stood in front of Klaus, keeping her hands on his chest as she surveyed the room. A swell of testosterone shimmered in the air. Her eyes flickered over the tight cords of muscle in her brothers' necks before darting to Freya.

"We're gone for half a day and you've turned the living room into a bloody boxing ring?"

"Don't be ridiculous Bex," Kol glared at Damon. "Boxers are shirtless. Do you see any shirts missing?"

Unbidden an image of her shirtless husband with beads of blood dripping down his chest swam through her mind. She poked her extended canine, imagining licking the red from the grooves in his abdomen.

Shirtless, she decided, would make the whole ordeal much more interesting. She might even get on board with a little beating if it meant she could watch the shift of his muscles under sweat slick skin.

"Where have you two been?" Klaus took a series of shallow breaths, forcing his features back to something resembling human.

"We have been busy." Freya moved into the middle of the room, hoping her presence would at least deter her brothers from racing into a fight. "Keeping our ears to the ground."

"And we have bigger issues right now than whatever this is," Rebekah waved one hand.

Elena swallowed her disappointment, but then thought of the store of blood bags. A little AB positive would be tastier than Damon; it wouldn't be the first time she had done something like that.

"What's the problem, Bekah?" She loosened her grip on Kol's arm, sliding her hand down to his wrist.

"I compelled a few locals who live near the cemetery, pushed some images into their minds, and you'll never guess what I found out."

"I think they will," Freya rolled her eyes.

"Mother and father were both seen leaving the cemetery in the early hours of the morning. No idea where they went, but they're most definitely alive."

"Of course they are," Klaus felt fury race through his veins. "Three guesses why they've come back."

"We don't need three guess, Nik," Rebekah rolled her eyes. "It's obvious. The Original Bitch is fresh out of the grave and looking for ways to kill us all along with daddy dearest. Say what you want about our parents, but when they set a goal they do everything to reach it."

"And they're together again?" Kol twisted his wrist, catching her hand. "United in their desire to end their children." He hummed, tilting his head. "How romantic. I don't think we can compete with that, darling."

"Shut up, Kol!" Elena glared, lightly smacking his arm.

"I love it when you order me about," he winked.

Her flush and Rebekah's subsequent groan brought a smirk to his lips.


End file.
